One Piece: The Tylias Pirates!
by Rapurits
Summary: Set 10 years after Luffy and his crew rumored to have retired from piracy, we follow an 18 year-old boy with dreams of becoming king of the pirates. With new islands, deadly pirates and shichibukai, will Tylias make it to the Grand Line and find the One Piece? Stay tuned to find out!
1. Meet Tylias!

**AU:** Well, this is it. My first ever fan fiction. Thank you for taking time to read my story, I really appreciate it. I'd also like to point out that I do not own One Piece. All the characters and locations (aside from the ones I created) were created by Eiichiro Oda.  
With all of that out of the way, let's begin!

**Chapter 1 – Meet Tylias! The Copy-Copy Boy!**

* * *

Next to Foosha village on the Dawn Island, sat Loosha village. Foosha and Loosha are friendly villages that share resources with each other. These villages are known to be peaceful and home to a lot of friendly and sleepy people. But is also known for being the birthplace of the infamous pirate: Monkey D. Luffy.

And soon, Loosha Village would be known for being the birthplace of Tylias Murdoc!

It was a usual bright and calm day for Loosha Village. The seas were tame and peaceful on this day, too. This was definitely a site to behold for Tylias Murdoc as he sat pleasantly on top of the local village pub, although his sites were also set on that one big ship that sat by the ocean. This particular ship was owned by the pub's owner: Largey.

"Come on! Pull! Largey wants this in the kitchen as soon as possible!" barked a citizen from below.

Tylias bent over sneakily to see two regular citizens carrying a large sack full of fish.

He grinned at the sight of his soon-to-be next meal. He jumped down behind the pub and landed safely in a shrub. He placed his ear carefully up against the wall to hear the two people dropping the sack.

"What does the old geezer want with this many fish anyway?" the other citizen enquired.

"You know who comes on a Friday. The Loopy Pirates! They eat and drink almost every drop of resource this village has"

Tylias listened until they left and proceeded to enter in through the window that was placed right above him. He attempted to open it but – as he expected – Largey walked into the room before he could proceed. Luckily Largey was too busy handling the fish before he could notice Tylias staring at him through the window.

He cursed under his breath then smiled. _"That old bastard knew this was coming!"_

He stood up and walked a few steps away from the pub and proceeded to grunt and twitch. Any other person would think he badly needed to go to the toilet but he knew what he was doing. He was making a copy of himself.

"**COPY-COPY DECOY!"**

**(*POOF*)**

Another Tylias appeared beside him. He wore the exact same outfit that the original Tylias wore. Which were: a sleeveless blue vest (unbuttoned) with golden buttons, black shorts and a red bandana wrapped around the right bicep.

They each smiled and nodded to each other knowing what they each had to do. Tylias crouched back to the window while his copy walked around the pub and into the entrance.

The door bell rung as the copy waltzed inside with a grin.

"Oh, it's you" Largey sighed while rolling his eyes. "The Loopy Pirates aren't here yet, so you're not getting any fish!"

"I'm not here about that. I'm here about your ship" Tylias' copy replied, "Seriously; I'm not all about fish!"

Largey slammed his fat fist on the counter and glared at him.

"How many times do I have to tell you?! The ship is mine and I don't trust you with it!"

The deceitful copy sat on one of the stools that sat behind the counter and rested his elbows.

"Aw come on. I'll pay you once I start my pirate adventure!" he playfully begged.

**(*CLASH*)**

The clashing noise was the sound of pots and pans falling over. Largey's ears twitched at sound.

The copy vanished into smoke and disappeared, just as he smiled and stuck out his tongue.

"That boy!" Largey yelled, turning around and pushing through the kitchen door like a wild bull.

Tylias hopped out of the window just as Largey burst his way into the room. On the ground laid some pots and pans, as well as some raw fish.

The pirate sped off and into the distance with half a sack of fish. "DON'T WORRY" he called out, "I LEFT SOME FOR YOU!"

**[A few hours later]**

Tylias walked out of the forest and into the port area with a full stomach.

His sights were still on that geezer's ship. It was a Caravel ship that was big enough to hold at least 10 pirates on board. It had a men's room, toilet, kitchen and a spare room.

His vision of riding that ship off into the sunset was cut short when loud cackling was heard from the pub.

"The Loopy Pirates!" Tylias said in excitement as he rushed into the pub.

Before he could walk inside, he instantly smelled fish cooking and cigarettes burnings. Cheerful laughter could be heard from inside and the sound of beer mugs clinking and banging.

Tylias pushed the door open to be greeted by a ton of pirates. They sat everywhere. On the stools, benches, tables, and even on the floor. The place was stocked full of them, all of them cheering and waving their rum around.

"To Loopy!" they all cheered in unison. "LOOPY THE PIRATE!"

The door closed with the bell setting off and the pirates turned their heads around. Even Largey noticed behind his counter, that was stack full of plates and mugs.

"Tylias! It's good to see you!" the pirates smiled and cheered drunkenly. "Sit down and have some beer!"

"You guys seem rowdy tonight!" Tylias said as he couldn't help but smile.

"And for good reason" one of the pirates hiccupped, "Loopy got a new batch of treasure and his bounty increased!"

"That's right" said one of the pirates sitting by the counter. His voice was deep and soothing, so much so that the pirates went silent.

The pirate sitting on the stool turned around to reveal himself. It was none other than Loopy; the captain of the Loopy Pirates.

He wore an eye-patch around his right eye which was black with a small jolly Rogers on it. The jolly Rogers didn't look like your average jolly roger. The eyes looked swirled and the bones seemed broken. This was their own Jolly Roger and it is what struck fear into their foes.

The captain wore a white beer-stained shirt that had blue stripes on it. His trousers were long and black and his boots were brown. His smile revealed rotten teeth that looked like they were about to pop out.

"Tylias! Take a seat beside me, young one!" he howled, slamming his hand repeatedly on the counter as he just consumed another cooked fish.

Tylias sat next to him, hoping he'd hear another one of Loopy's grand adventures, although he never really cared for the Loopy Pirates personally. Just hearing about their adventures made him excited to start his own journey. On the counter sat several plates with a pile of fish bones on them. The plates looked like they all belonged to Loopy, as compared to the other pirates; he looked like he had an entire mountain of fish to himself.

"Tell them about that time you fought a sea king!" a pirate loudly suggested in the background.

Other pirates began to cheer at the statement, begging Loopy to tell them about their great victory.

"Yes, but first" Loopy said, rubbing his stomach, "Another round of fish!"

"Sorry, we're all out fish" Largey said, scrubbing away at the mountain of beer mugs.

"Excuse me?" Loopy said, his tone changed, which caused the room to be silent – again.

"I said we're out" Largey said once more, his back turned to the furious-looking pirate, continuing to scrub beer mugs.

**(*SMASH*)**

Loopy had darted from his stool and threw one of the plates at Largey. The plate smashed as it collided up against the back of his bald head.

"How dare you!" Loopy shrieked as the bar owner continued scrubbing mugs, despite the wound on his head.

"It's not my fault" the bar owner replied. "My other batch of fish were stolen"

These words caused Tylias' heart to beat furiously, sweat started to form and slowly slide down his cheek. _"What… this is… MY fault?"_

"Yeah" Tylias spoke up with new found courage. "I stole them. Sorry, Largey"

Largey scoffed, but was happy that Tylias owned up to his actions – for once.

Despite how furious of a person Largey may be, he and Tylias are friends – nay, more than friends.

**(*SMACK*)**

Tylias fell off the stool and crashed to the ground. Blood dripped from his noes as he looked up to see Loopy looking more furious than ever.

"So it was you, huh!?" he barked wildly, "How dare you defy your captain!"

"WHO SAID I WAS JOINING YOUR CREW!?"

Largey snapped himself around, with a knife in hand, ready to plunge at Loopy. His eye brows were burrowed deep as he grinded his teeth, as just seeing Tylias on the ground made his blood vessels pop.

"You bastard!" he yelled out at Loopy.

The other pirates started to take out their cutlasses that shined brightly in the pub lights. Just looking at them felt like they were cutting you from the inside.

"What the hell, old man?!" Loopy protested, "This guy robbed you, you should be pointing at him, not me!"

"Step away… from my son!" he screamed.

[**END CHAPTER 1] **


	2. Tylias! The Boy At Sea!

**Chapter 2 – Tylias! The Boy At Sea!**

* * *

As Tylias lay helplessly on the ground, Loopy standing above him, he couldn't help but look into Largey's eyes. Just then, memories flashed wildly for the both of them. They both knew how it all started between them. They both knew that they were more than just friends.

**[FLASHBACK – 16 Years Ago – Somewhere on East Blue]**

The roaring waves from the ocean splashed up against the ship, pushing it slightly into a different direction.

The rain pelted on the sailors too, making their journey back to Loosha Village that more difficult.

"Sir – The waves are pushing us, we have to get out of here!" one of the sailors called out.

"NO!" Largey said, slashing at the air with his hand. "I saw a basket just now!"

Each of their yells was drowned out by the high wind that continued to roar.

"But sir – "

"I said wait, god damn it!" the captain bellowed, cutting off the sailor from speaking.

His sailor hat blew away and into the ocean, before he tried to grab on to it. His hat was important to him as a fisherman, but something else was out there that was more important: A child.

The ocean splashed again on one side of the ship that completely drenched the dedicated captain from head to toe.

"THERE!" he yelled and pointed out. The other sailors ran over to his side to see a small basket drifting out and being pushed by the waves.

The sailors gathered a large net and threw it out as hard as they could. In this weather, throwing nets and ropes is harder than it of wither the child was alive; the captain did nothing but stare in shock. The water splashing is what cut him out of his trance as he jumped into action. He picked up one of the many nets and threw it. His throw had more power than the other sailors due to his sheer strength and determination.

The net successfully wrapped itself around the basket like a protective blanket. Although this was an unorthodox method, none of them could afford to drift closer or dive into the ocean.

They all pulled and pulled until the basket was right up against the ship. The net pulled the basket up and Largey held tightly onto the basket.

As he suspected, there was a baby in the basket that was crying its eyes out.

"Shh!" Largey smiled, looking at the baby, "I'm here. We've got you"

The sailors, after noticing the captain had the baby, jumped to immediate action to get back to Loosha Village. The journey back was rough but fortunately there were no major casualties.

The ship set anchor on the port of Loosha Village. On the boat wasn't just a child but a whole load of fish and even a treasure chest.

"So who does the baby belong to?" one of the sailors stupidly asked, looking down on the baby.

Largey shrugged as he held tightly on to the basket. "His parents might be dead. If he was just drifting at sea, then that would be the only logical conclusion"

The baby began to roll around in his small basket to reveal a note. This surprised Largey but it didn't stop him from snatching it then proceeding to read it.

"_Hello. My name is Tylias. Please look after me"_

"It has no signature" the sailor pointed out.

"Well I guess I have to look after this little squirt" the captain smiled after closely observing the note.

This shocked the sailor, almost so that his little hat fell off, "C-C-Captain?!"

Largey simply laughed and walked off the ship and into his pub.

His pub was small with very few tables and stools. The counter wasn't polished and almost seemed dusty.

"This'll be your new home, Tylias"

With that, the baby burst out in a giggle and attempted to grab Largey's nose with his small paw-like hands. Within a few minutes of only knowing this baby, he had touched the rough-and-tough sailors' heart. Their fates were sealed.

**[YEARS LATER – LARGEY'S PUB]**

Tylias, now an 8 year-old, was running around the pub with a toy sword. He slashed and swung at the tables as if they were his foes.

"Gar! I have you now!" the boy playfully yelled, hacking away at legs of every table.

Some of the customers were watching and laughing. To see such a bright and playful boy made them cheerful.

Largey was also watching from behind the counter.

"That boy" he smiled.

More customers began to pour in. This is how Fridays usually are. The residents of Loosha Village get off work at that time and like to rest at the pub with a mug of beer in hand.

Tylias snuck in between people's legs and managed to reach the kitchen area unnoticed.

"Finally, I'm in the kitchen. Now to find that treasure!" the young boy declared.

The kitchen area was how a kitchen would usually look, with its pots, pans, and cutlery all in one dirty heap. There were also boxes full of rum and sacks of fish that sat neatly away in the corner. But what Tylias was really looking for was the treasure chest that Largey kept away secretly. In the corner of his little beady eyes, he always saw his father walk into the kitchen with piles of gold and silver.

"Now if I were a fisherman, where would I keep my treasure?" the young adventurer pondered aloud.

He scanned the room with his eyes and didn't see anything out of the ordinary. No secret passage way or door. Just stacks of boxes and sacks.

"_WAIT! THAT'S IT!"_ he thought to himself.

He walked up to the sack that was bigger than he ever was and proceeded to climb. The lumps of fish made it easy to do this and he successfully reached the top.

When he got to the top, his feet were squashing the precious dead fish.

"Ew, feels weird" Tylias gagged.

But alas, nothing would stop him from reaching that treasure chest. He dug his hands deep into the sack. All he could feel were slimy and scaly fish. He pulled his hands out and stuck his head in. Of course, all he saw were fish but something caught his eyes. At the very bottom rested a small wooden box. The box had gold plating and glistened beautifully despite its condition.

His eyes brightened, he felt like cheering, but couldn't. He pushed his hands through and grabbed hold of the box. Due to the weight, he felt like he was sinking at the bottom.

"This is disgusting!" he gagged again as he slowly fell to the bottom.

Now he was in a predicament. The fish were piling on top of him; the light from above grew thinner until he was in complete, slimy, scaly darkness.

Nothing was more important than getting what was inside that box, but he felt like he was getting slowly crushed. He unsheathed the toy sword and slashed at the sack. It didn't do much but it made a small cut. The cut was just deep enough to reveal some light, however.

Tylias then smiled menacingly, "Salvation!"

He pushed his tiny fingers through the cut and proceeded to tear the sack open. The fish tumbled out like a mountain crumbling and Tylias slid out with the box in hand.

With no hesitation, and knowing that his dad would rush in to the kitchen at any moment, he opened the box to reveal a shiny blue fruit.

He gave a simple look of disappointment before disregarding it as some food.

"Well I am kind of hungry" he smiled sinisterly.

He picked up the fruit and began to take bites out of it.

During his meal, he couldn't help but notice the strange pattern on the fruit. It was unheard of and even though he absolutely hated the sight of fruit, he couldn't help but stare at it. This was quickly interrupted by the foul taste as he continued to eat. It tasted like a chilli pepper. The spice and heat was incredible, but Tylias wasn't going to let this fruit get the better of him.

He chowed down and proceeded to eat the final piece.

**(*SLAM*)**

The kitchen door swung open.

Tylias was terrified to see his father, big and scary, looking down on him.

"I thought you'd be in here!" he stated.

The boy smiled innocently as his father noticed the torn sack of fish and the box opened.

"TYLIAS! PLEASE TELL ME YOU DIDN'T…" he yelled, rushing toward the empty box.

He inspected the box closely and saw it was empty. He then rushed to check out the sack to see if the fruit was there but to his shock - it was gone.

"It's okay. The fruit didn't go to waste. I ate it!" Tylias smiled, giving a thumbs-up. "Although, I wish you had actual treasure"

Largey picked up the boy to see his lips were covered in blue ink.

"Tylias… do you know what you just ate?!" he said, his eyes growing wide in horror.

"Yeah!" he laughed in response, "It was some weird fruit. It tasted funny"

Largey began to furiously shake the boy like a ragdoll.

"You idiot! That was my treasure! It meant everything to me!" he yelled. He dropped Tylias to the ground and fell to his knees.

Only now did the young boy grasp the situation. "That… was your treasure?"

"YES!" Largey yelled in response, still furious with his son. "Those fruits are rare and are said to give you powers. I was going to sell it for millions of beli and buy a proper home, but I guess I can't now!"

Tylias dropped his toy sword and shielded his eyes. He broke down and began to cry.

"I-I'm sorry… I-I didn't know it meant that much to you!" the boy choked out, sniffing and wiping his face.

"Please… Please forgive me, father"

Largey remained unresponsive for a few seconds, with his back turned on his own son as he kneeled in despair. That fruit was his only chance… His only chance…

Largey then grinned and shrugged. "It's okay"

"Huh?" the crying boy said, raising his head up to see his father looking at him.

"You're my son. So YOU'RE the greatest treasure I have" his father smiled.

His smiling didn't stop Tylias from weeping.

"But you said it meant everything to you!" Tylias shouted, continuing to cry as tears streamed down his face.

"Not everything, Tylias. I have you, don't I?" Largey responded again. "Please, stop crying. Besides I also have another treasure chest with actual gold and silver!

Largey removed the boxes of Rum out of the way to reveal a small trap door. He opened it and inside sat an actual treasure chest. He opened it up and they both took a look inside. The contents inside glistened with beauty. They shined in to their eyes and sparkled like diamond. The gold could light up an entire room due to how bright it was. There were all sorts of gold inside like rings, necklaces and even a small crown.

"This is my savings. When you're a fisherman like me, you tend to find these things drifting around. Pirates can sometimes be careless" he told him. "So when you do become a pirate, make sure to protect the things you hold dear"

He finally stopped crying and wiped away the last shed of tear. His eyes were puffy and his cheeks were pure red like a strawberry. As his father looked down on him, with that stupid grin, Tylias couldn't help but smile back.

* * *

**AN: **Thanks for reading! And of course, One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda.


	3. Loopy! The Pirate Fights!

**Chapter 3 – Loopy! The Pirate Fights!**

* * *

**[PRESENT DAY – LOOSHA VILLAGE]**

The pirates had their jaws touching the floor. Throughout the entire time that they came to this pub, they never knew that Tylias was Largey's son.

"SON?!" Loopy laughed whilst holding his sides. "This fool is – "

Largey didn't wait for another second; he dove over the counter and struck Loopy with his knife. The knife missed but only barely, leaving a long cut along the pirate's chest.

The other pirates jumped to immediate action by knocking Largey to the ground with their swords pointing at him.

Tylias could only sit and watch, to his annoyance. He knew he had to do something, but what?

"Search the place. He might be storing treasure somewhere" the captain proclaimed. He shot a menacing look towards Tylias, thinking he wouldn't dare retaliate.

"_This is my savings… -"_

"_**I CANT LET THEM GET AWAY WITH THIS" **_Tylias thought to himself in rage.

"_So when you do become a pirate, make sure to protect the things you hold dear"_

"YOU BASTARDS!" Tylias screamed into the air as he pushed himself off the ground.

Tylias flung his fist around as hard as he could and made a direct hit on Loopy.

He stumbled back and almost fell over but managed to regain himself.

"**COPY-COPY DECOY!" **Tylias roared, not giving the pirate a chance to retaliate. Another form of him appeared beside him, ready to fight the evil pirates.

He, and the copy, began to swing wildly, attacking many pirates and knocking them to the ground. The Tylias copy had shocked the pirates so they were taken off guard. However, a few of the pirates and even Loopy had managed to sneak out with the treasure chest that they quickly found.

This sparked a new flame in Largey that caused him to stand up and help Tylias beat-up the remaining pirates. The pub owner himself was quite surprised to find himself tackling young and strong pirates.

"GO! Stop them!" Largey yelled as he shoved his son to the door.

The copy vanished into thin air just before he had left, leaving multiple knocked out pirates laying on the floor. He then headed outside to see Loopy's ship beginning to set sail.

"I'll be seeing you, freak!" Loopy called out as his ship began to float away.

Tylias smiled menacingly and shook his head in response. "Nah, we still got some catching up to do"

"**COPY-COPY AMBUSH!"**

Suddenly a large group of Tylias' appeared. They were all smirking before they charged towards the ship. The very sight of this many copies Loopy and his other pirates tremble with fear.

"Captain, we have to get out of here!" one of them cried.

The several other copies that sprinted near the edge of the port leapt onto the ship easily.

"Going somewhere?" they all sniggered together.

"WHICH ONE IS THE REAL ONE?!" Loopy screamed in confusion.

The Tylias' laughed together evilly, sending yet more fear down their spines.

The pirate ship, now carrying Tylias and his copies, was sailing further and further away from land until they were in the middle of nowhere.

Loopy and his crew members stood in the centre of the deck, forming some kind of back-to-back circle. The copies shot into the air, their bodies almost blocking the sun. They were all ready to send one single flying punch to the cowardly pirates until the unthinkable happened: They had vanished.

There remained a single Tylias, which was behind Loopy the entire time. The evil pirate spun around with his comrades to see that the devil fruit user that they were all scared of was now alone, and what seemed like out of breath.

Loopy couldn't help but laugh at his pathetic enemy.

"So this is the extent to your devil fruit powers. How pathetic" he chuckled.

He picked Tylias up by his scruffy hair and threw him to the other side of the ship, causing him to crash into several barrels and boxes. Some bottles of Sake were smashed in the collision, spilling the beer all over the deck.

"I will admit, your power can prove useful – but only if you used it carefully"

Tylias looked up, still struggling for breath as his energy slowly depleted. "I will spare you and that fool Largey if you join my crew"

"To hell with you!" he barked in response.

Loopy struck him with his boot, sending his face flying back to the ground.

The other pirates that didn't get left behind started to cheer their almighty captain on, chanting "Loopy!" repeatedly.

"I'll never join your crew!"

"I'm afraid I must insist" he grinned, revealing his rotten teeth again. "After all, if you're not a part of my crew, then that means you're an enemy. And if you're an enemy, then that means I have to throw you overboard"

The other pirates laughed, knowing what happens to devil fruit users that get thrown into the ocean.

"Devil fruit users all have one thing in common: They can't swim"

Loopy began to repeatedly kick Tylias who was still on the ground. Although a dirty move, Loopy didn't care. Fighting with him doesn't include honour or fair play.

More and more blood began to get coughed up by the struggling Tylias.

Sending one last kick, he said "So I'll ask you again. Join my crew!"

Tylias gave one look at him, not thinking about death, but about his father, and said:

"No…"

The ship began to shake wildly before the deranged pirate captain could react. Tylias looked beside him to see another familiar looking ship that was once anchored on the Loosha Village port. It was his father's ship, and on it, was the man himself wielding a cutlass.

Despite his old age, he could still fight pretty well. After all, being a fisherman sometimes meant fighting pirates along the way.

"A pirate never runs from battle" the old geezer criticized, paying no attention to his wounded son.

Tylias continued to watch while struggling to get up. His entire body felt like it was on fire from the amount of kicking he got. It didn't help that seeing his own blood made him feel sick.

"But you're just a fisherman!" the pirate captain croaked, somewhat surprised that a person of old age was able to wield a sword.

"That's right" Largey responded calmly, "but you also hurt my treasure. That is something I cannot allow to happen again!"

He charged at Loopy with his cutlass and he jumped out of the way to dodge the attack.

The other pirates were about to join in until Loopy, the captain, surprisingly told them to stop.

"This is a fight between me and him. Don't interfere!"

Loopy drew out his sword which was the same cutlass that the other pirates used.

"I warn you, old man. I'm no pushover" he grinned, ready to duel.

They both swung at the same time to have their weapons clash against each other. This was repeated again and again until Loopy and Largey began to circle each other.

The pirate went in for a low swoop but the old man – impressively - jumped over and swung his sword.

The cutlass made contact with the pirate and cut his cheek.

"I'm sorry, but this is game over for you!" the pirate laughed.

"DAD, WATCH OUT!" Tylias yelled, reaching out with his hand.

**(*SLASH*)**

A pirate from behind slashed Largey's back and made a critical hit.  
"When you're on my ship, I make the rules, grandpa"

"You bastard! You said they couldn't interfere!" Tylias screamed in protest, riving in pain.

Loopy laughed and walked straight past the old man that had collapsed to the ground.  
"I'm a pirate. What did you expect?"

"No" Tylias responded, gritting his teeth. His entire face had gone red with rage.

"**YOU'RE A COWARD!"**

"Why you – "Loopy said but then stopped because Tylias has suddenly started laughing.

"WHAT IS SO FUNNY?!" he yelled, very annoyed by his behaviour. "YOU'RE ABOUT TO DIE!"

Tylias continued to laugh, so much so that he began to roll around the floor while holding his sides.  
"And you said my powers were pathetic!" he chuckled, tears beginning to pour out.

"STOP IT!" the pirate yelled out as he sent his boot flying to the ground.

At that moment, the Tylias that was in riving in the ground in dire pain had vanished into smoke.

* * *

**AN: **What a twist! No, but seriously: I'm uploading chapters a little more frequently for the time being. I'd say 2 - 3 day gaps. As always, thank you for reading and remember, One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda!


	4. Tylias Makes A Comeback!

**Chapter 4 – Tylias Makes A Comeback!**

* * *

All of the pirates on board the ship had all screamed together. Their emotions were mixed with confusion and fear "WHAAAAAT!?

Their eyes felt like they were going to pop out of their sockets. How, when, where? They kept repeating this to themselves to the point where they were almost annoyed.

Loopy's jaw had comically been left open throughout the entire ordeal.

"Where did that brat go?" Loopy yelled out angrily.

"Up here!" Tylias called from above. He stood on the crow's nest of the ship and was looking down on the shocked pirates.

"To hell with this!" the pirates said as one by one they all jumped out to the ocean, abandoning their captain. Loopy was all alone in this battle now.

"How and when did you get up there!" the captain choked out.

"While we jumped on board, of course!" he laughed.

This only raised more questions than answers for the scared captain.

"But I saw them disappear! They all vanished because you lost energy"

"Nope. Wrong!" Tylias laughed climbing down from the crow's nest.

"My copies disappear when they've fulfilled their purpose. Attacking you wasn't their purpose. Their purpose was to buy me enough time to get up there"

"But… but… but" the pirate trembled. "But there's just no way –"

"It's true, keeping that copy of me that you were beating up was quite a struggle. Mainly because I feel whatever pain they feel, but because making copies cost me my energy" he answered once more.

"Well that's fine!" Loopy said, unsheathing his sword with an ounce of courage left, "Because now I can kill you!"  
He dove straight for Tylias who remained still, not moving an inch.  
"You've got no energy left, so how can you fight me?"

He plunged his sword towards his foe with the power he had left in him, but to his demise, Tylias simply grabbed the blade and held on to it. Loopy froze in fear, as Tylias gave a cold and serious stare.

"Listen here…" he growled as he held on to the sword tightly, despite the blade digging into his hand's flesh. "I may not have the energy to make more copies…"

He yanked on the sword which caused Loopy to stumble forward until they were face-to-face.

"But I do have the strength to kick your ass!"

He rammed his head forward, head-butting Loopy directly in the face.

It definitely hurt each of them equally but seeing his father on the floor made his fuel that ran on rage only increase that much further. As for the pirate captain, he fell straight backwards and on to the ground, knocking himself out cold.

Tylias remained standing, the blade of Loopy's cutlass still held tightly in hand, and yelled out cheerfully in victory.

He let go of the cutlass which – only now – send massive amounts of pain through his hand. Blood dripped everywhere: from a cut to the side, a nose bleed and now a cut on his hand. Tylias certainly wasn't in any condition to fight again for another while, which begged the question as to where the other pirates had swam off to. He guessed his pirates weren't very loyal in the end.

He bent down to see if the old geezer was okay. He showed signs of life but needed a doctor as soon as possible. Before carrying his father's body to his own ship, he quickly snatched the treasure they took and even a map that hung out of Loopy's pockets.

He quickly investigated the map to see it was no regular map. It was a map to the Grand Line.

He felt like cheering and celebrating. The map that he held tightly on to was his ticket to finding the One Piece.

Tylias turned the ship around and sailed back to Loosha Village. He hoped his sailor friends would be waiting for him and Largey when they got back.

**[Moments Later]**

The ship arrived at the port and docked successfully, although it was a rough trip as Tylias wasn't experienced in steering.

As he thought, some sailors in their usual white uniforms were waiting for Largey's return.

They jumped on board and carried Largey back to the pub where a doctor was waiting. It seems as though the doctor had to take care of the unconscious pirates that were left behind in the pub, as part of his duty. Tylias walked into the pub, expecting a heap of mess from what the other pirates had done, but to his pleasure, it almost spotless.

"Is he going to be alright?" he weakly asked the doctor.

The doctor wore a brown suit and carried a tiny briefcase, which presumably is where he kept his medicine and gadgets. He stroked his stubble and acted seriously only to completely change mood.

"Of course he is" the doctor replied in delight. "His wounds aren't that bad, but if the cut were any deeper…"

"Just what happened here anyway?" one of the sailors asked, picking up some plate shards. "When we got here, your dad barely spoke to us. He just got on his ship and sailed off"

He explained to the confused sailors about what happened. As he told his story, their expressions changed multiple times from shock to delight.

"So you head butted the guy, despite his sword digging into you?" the same sailor gasped.

Tylias made sure his fight with Loopy was detailed as possible. Looking back on it, it was ridiculous as to how a pirate like Loopy could even conquer a Sea King, let alone lives to tell his tail about one.

"In that case, I should look at your hand" the doctor said urgently, picking up his briefcase.

He opened his hand and blood began to ooze out of the wound. He took one look at it then felt sick. Seeing his own blood always made him feel nauseous, even if it was the smallest of cuts. All he can remember after that was fainting then his eyes closing.

**[Moments Later]**

"You alright, kid? You've been out for almost two hours"

He opened his eyes to see some of Largey's workers looking down on him. "You just fell over and –"

Tylias sprung up from the ground, knocking the sailor over and screamed whilst stretching his arms.

"I HAD THE BEST REST EVER!"

"WOULD YOU WATCH WHAT YOU'RE DOING NEXT TIME!" the annoyed sailor protested, covering his nose.

"Oh, sorry" he laughed in response, giving his usual smile. "I hope there's still some fish left. I'm starving!"

"Of course there is" cried a voice from the kitchen.

A figure appeared and stood behind the counter. It was none other than Largey.

"OLD MAN!" he cheered about to dive and give him a hug. However, he noticed the bandages that were wrapped neatly around his entire body.

"Yes, I'm okay," he chuckled, "The doctor patched me up and said I should be back to my usual self in a couple of days"

Tylias sat on one of the stools with the sailors. He noticed that the place was cleaner from before and the other pirates were gone. As it turns out, Largeys workers had been doing some cleaning up when they left.

His father pushed a plate full of cooked fish out and he began to munch it all down as fast as any pirate could.

"Your son has a strange obsession for fish" a sailor chuckled, chugging down his beer.

"Well according to him, the protein and vitamins in the fish help restore his powers when he's used too much energy" his father shrugged.

Tylias let out a large burp, "That's right. With this fish and the map I found on Loopy's ship, I'll be starting my adventure soon"

During his meal, Largey explained what happened to Loopy and his ship when he had fainted.

He explained that his workers had taken Loopy and his ship to the Marines. They never said anything about what happened and they said that Loopy was a drunken pirate that stumbled into the village.

"So you're going to the grand line?" the same sailor asked curiously.

Tylias nodded and smiled, "I, Tylias Murdoc, will find the One Piece and become king of the pirates"

The sailors laughed together, "But you don't have a ship"

"Well he does now" Largey corrected matter-of-factually.

"Does that mean…" Tylias spouted, choking on a piece of fish. "That I can use your ship?"

His father looked deep into his eyes and nodded. "You earned it"

This bit of news caused him to jump into the air and cheer, swinging his arms around, which had knocked the same sailor down like he had done before.

"YOU REALLY NEED TO WATCH WHERE YOU AIM THOSE THINGS!" the injured sailor cried out.

* * *

**AN: **The end of the first Arc! Thanks for reading! One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda.


	5. Set Sail! The Adventure Begins!

**Chapter 5 – Set Sail! The Adventure Begins!**

* * *

Tylias stood on the crow's nest of his new ship. The wind blew his scruffy hair, but he didn't care. High winds and storms were going to a part of his adventure, wither he liked it or not, so it was best to get used to it. Besides – there'll be more than just storms in his journey to the Grand Line. They'll be sea kings, islands with giants and even islands that only snow or rain. But what he couldn't wait to see were the sea kings.

Sea kings are basically massive monsters that live in the sea. Although they usually gather together in the Calm Belt, there are rare occurrences where you may find a sea king in the East Blue.

"Are you sure you don't want all the treasure?" yelled a voice from below.

Tylias looked down to see Largey waving up to him.

Tylias had decided to leave most of the treasure he got from Loopy behind in Loosha Village. He told his father that he could have it and do whatever he wants with it. The sailors also helped stock the ship with fish and rum for his journey.

"Like I said, you can keep it" he replied.

This brought a tear to his father's eye, which he quickly wiped away. "Have you thought of anything about crewmembers?" he yelled up.

Tylias took out a small scroll of parchment from his shorts and opened it up. On the parchment was a list of positions, such as: First Mate, Cook, Sniper, and Swordsman/Swordswoman.

He hadn't thought of making the list bigger, as he didn't know what else a ship could need.

"Yeah, I have a few ideas" his son said cheerfully.

Tylias began to shake around in the crow's nest out of excitement. "I CAN'T WAIT TO GET GOING!"

**[Moments Later – Loosha Village port]**

"Well I'm ready to go!" Tylias said, as the sailors hopped off his ship.

Some of the sailors offered to help clean the insides of the ship and furnish it.

"And thanks for helping me with the ship!"

"Eh, no problem" the sailors said, they looked more than happy to help. "Your dad promised us free rounds so we couldn't refuse"

"And remember to watch where you throw your punches" another sailor pointed out. His eyes were bruised and he had a piece of tissue stuck up his nose to stop his nose bleed.

Tylias laughed and went red with embarrassment, "Again – I'm sorry about that, random sailor guy"

"I TOLD YOU A HUNDRED TIMES MY NAME IS JOHNNY!"

His father then stepped onto the ship and faced his son. "Boy, I'm gonna miss you"

Tylias didn't make direct eye contact, every time he looked at them since the Loopy incident, he couldn't stop himself from tearing up.

"Yeah, yeah" he responded, playing it coolly. "I'll come and visit"

The other sailors began to chuckle and finally, Largey gave his son one last hug, before leaving.

The ship slowly began to drift away. The sailors and Largey began to wave goodbye, cheering things out such as "Remember to visit", "Don't drink all the rum" and "Kick some pirate ass!"

To his surprise, even some of the villagers stepped out of their homes to wave goodbye.

"I didn't know him much, but he always kept this village alive" a female villager said, waving at him.

And all together, the villagers and sailors yelled one last "Goodbye" as the ship drifted further and further away.

Tylias began to shake as he clutched his fists tightly. He was looking down at the wooden floorboard, promising to himself that he wouldn't cry.

And in a burst of pure energy, he jumped into the air and waved wildly, screaming at the top of his lungs: "GOODBYE!"

The next few minutes were just Tylias walking around the ship as the ship drifted away to the next location. He noticed the sailors had done a really good job of dusting most of the insides to the ship. One of the sailors was even kind enough to nail a piece of parchment near the helm that stated where the rooms are and what they're for. Currently, the ship has the following: Bathroom, Storage Deck, A kitchen (also to be used as a meeting place) and an Anchor room.

This was more than enough for Tylias and his future crew mates.

As for his destination, Tylias plans to head to Shells Town, to find his first crew member.

He stood on the deck of the ship, placing his elbows on the rails and looking down at the water.

Seeing the ship push the water out of its way like a knife was mesmerising and killed some time.

Suddenly the flow of the water changed which killed the trance he was in. Water began to slowly make small splashes up against his ship. He looked up at the sky and it was still a clear and bright day.

"_The heck is going on?"_

He looked straight ahead and saw another pirate ship.

Questions began to run through his mind like, "Should I run", "Should I fight", "Should I stand and do nothing"

With all these questions, he simply shrugged and continued to stare at the water.

"Hey, you all alone on that big ship?" one of the pirates asked.

The other ship began to drift closer to his ship. This was too close for his comfort.

"Maybe I am" Tylias retorted. "What's it to you?"

They unsheathed their swords and grinned wildly.

"Attack!" the pirates yelled.

Despite the other pirate ship only holding very few pirates, and not even having a Jolly Roger, they looked fierce.

"You guys are probably newbie pirates" Tylias pointed and laughed, noticing that their ship didn't have a Jolly Roger. Then again, neither did his. "I am too! Do you guys know the quickest way to get to Shells Town?"

The other pirates blinked, completely bewildered by how unaware Tylias is, and then proceeded to point and laugh.

"Shut up!" one of the pirates barked, raising his sword. "We're the – uh – we're the…"

The pirate then scratched his bald head, "What are we called again?"

The other pirates felt like falling over due to how clumsy the bald pirate seemed.

"You idiot!" the other pirate said, "We're called the Shell Pirates!"

Tylias laughed again and took the other pirates by surprise.

"You guys are so unorganised!"

The pirates collapsed to their knees and covered their faces. "It's true! We're completely new to this and have no idea what we're doing. We're just following orders from our captain!"

Tylias then pointed out towards the ocean. "You also don't know how to anchor your ship"

The pirate ship was drifting out and away from them, leaving them stranded,

The other pirates turned and started screaming and waving wildly. It's definitely obvious to Tylias that these pirates have no idea what they're doing.

"Steer towards our ship! We need it or our boss will kill us!" one of the pirates said.

Tylias started laughing once more, "I can't. I don't know how to steer this thing yet!"

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" they all yelled together, their jaws reaching the floor.

The pirates ran around on the deck panicking again, spouting random things that involved some talk about their boss.

"Guys" Tylias said which got the attention of all four of the pirates, "You said you were called the Shell Pirates, right? So take me to Shells Town"

"Shells Town?" one of them asked. "Why there?"

Tylias scratched the back of his head then nervously said, "Well I want a couple of crew members so I can enter the Grand Line"

"You're kidding right?" one of them scoffed, standing tall between the other pirates. "Why go to the Grand Line? It's suicide!"

"And what's your name?" Tylias asked curiously.

"My name is Gurlop. I am the captain of the Shell Pirates" he answered proudly.

"Well," the boy chuckled, "I'm Tylias and I'm gonna be king of the pirates"

"You're willing to die for that title!?" the captain bellowed. He was infuriated by the ignorance of the chuckling kid in front of him.

"Sure!" Tylias said. "If you have a dream, then I say follow it, even if that means dying for it"

The crew of the Shell Pirates and even Gurlop stood stunned on the spot. Despite the density of Tylias, his words meant something to all of them.

"Fine," Gurlop settled, "we'll take you to Shells Town"

**[Moments Later]**

Tylias sat on the upper deck placed with the leader of these strange pirates. His three crew mates were wandering around aimlessly on the lower deck.

"So you're the captain of this bunch?" Tylias asked curiously.

The pirate nodded and responded "Yes. My name is Gurlop, although my friends call me Gur"

Gurlop wore a dirty brown shirt and wore long black trousers. There was also a thick piece of rope tied around his waist that seemed to have been holding up his trousers.

"I'm sorry about my "tough guy" act earlier on"

"You have funny clothes" Tylias sniggered, completely ignoring him.

"Yeah" he replied calmly, "Our master doesn't give up proper clothing"

The other pirates seem to be wearing the same type of dirty clothes except without the piece of rope that Gurlop had.

"Your master? What's up with him?" he asked.

Gurlop sighed.

"Basically – he sends us out to do dirty work like robbing pirates. With the loot we find, we give it to him. And in return he gives us rewards like clothing and food"

"Well that sucks" Tylias responded, concerned for him and the other pirates. "Why don't you leave and start a fresh new life?"

Gurlop shot him a look of horror, "Oh no, we couldn't do that" he stated. His voice quivered slightly then he gulped. "Our master has a henchwoman. She's dangerous and powerful. If you disobey him or try to leave, she comes after you!"

Tylias placed his hand on Gurlop's shoulder. "I'm sorry you're going through that. Maybe when we get to Shells Town, I could talk to your master"

Gurlop looked at him, a single tear ready to drop from his eye and smiled.

"Thank you"

"And you don't have to apologise either. We're both just newbie pirates," he said, "Neither of us know what we're doing nor do we have Jolly Rogers. I guess you could say we're on the same boat!"

He started to laugh and slapped his knee. "Get it? On the same boat!"

They both remained silent after that and listened to the sounds of the ocean. It was going to be a long journey to Shells Town for the both of them. For the rest of the day, Tylias got to know the other pirates who told him the same thing that Gurlop did. The pirates seem to be close friends with one another.

Tylias, knowing the story about them, offered them to have a seat in the kitchen and eat dinner.

Rum and fish bones were splashed and thrown all over the place and Tylias didn't even mind. For what seemed like the first time ever, Gurlop and his friends were having fun.

"To Tylias!" Gurlop cheered, raising a bottle of rum in his hand.

The other pirates began to cheer with him as Tylias sat among them.

For the rest of the day they sang songs and told tales of sea kings and mermaids, which Tylias was quite interested in.

What turned from daylight slowly went to dawn then night as they all slept in the kitchen.

**[The Next Day]**

Tylias felt a stream of ongoing pain go through his head. He immediately clasped his forehead, hoping that it might numb the pain a little. He shot up and looked around, only now remembering the events from yesterday.

The entire room was clean. There was not a spill in sight. The furniture was placed back where it was the kitchen itself was cleaned.

At first, Tylias thought everything that happened was a dream. He drank too much rum and imagined some pirates on board his ship.

**(*thump*)**

"Ahh!" he screamed, "Pirates are taking over my ship!"

He rushed out to deck to see Gurlop and his men scrubbing all over the place with mops.

Gurlop scrubbed away furiously keeping his head down just like the rest of his men, as if to hide something. Tylias' memory came flooding back from the night before. "Oh… It's these guys"

Gurlop raised his head to wipe the sweat off his brow.

"We're sorry we got carried away last night. So to repay you for our behaviour we decided to help clean up"

Tylias simply laughed and scratched the back of his head.

"That's alright, it was my treat!"

He walked around the deck of the ship as the other pirates continued to scrub and mop.

In the horizon was a black dot that slowly got bigger. He shielded his eyes from the scorching sunlight and noticed that it was Shells Town "Alright! We're almost there!" he cheered.

However the other crew members didn't share his enthusiasm. They all looked miserable, afraid and nervous. This reminded him of what Gurlop told him. That they were practically slaves to their master and his deadly henchwoman.

"Sorry about my men" Gurlop apologised as he stood by Tylias, "They're not too eager to go home"

"Don't worry, I'll be there with you, like I said" he smiled giving a thumbs-up, hoping it would raise the spirits of the pirates. However it just didn't work.

"And we all appreciate that. But, since we're going back without any treasure, he's bound to kill one of us" he replied, almost in tears at the thought of losing another friend.

"WHAT!" Tylias barked, completely shocked.

"Our master punishes us by death" he sobbed, breaking down into tears. This caused the other men to stop what they were doing and stare. "I don't want to lose another friend"

There was a brief pause as Tylias stared out to the ocean as Gurlop tried to stay calm.

"I don't know your master very well, but… I'M GONNA KICK HIS ASS!"

Gurlop and his men gasped then looked at each other with dumb expressions.

"You'd risk your life to save random people that you don't even know?"

"Don't even know?" Tylias scoffed, "You're my friends! And if we all work together, we can stop all of this!"

The pirates raised their swords into the sky and cheered. Gurlop could only watch in tears as his men for the first time in months had hope.

* * *

**AN:**

**Woah! This was quite a long chapter. This was originally going to be two separate chapters, but my chapters have been short recently.  
A majority of these chapters were actually written weeks ago. In the meantime, I've been going over them and adding some parts, which might explain  
some grammar mistakes you may find. I've also been improving on my writing during my break, unfortunately you won't be seeing an improvement until the next couple of chapters ;)**

**As always, thanks for reading and I do not own One Piece. One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda! **


	6. Shells Town! Conjuring A Plan!

**Chapter 7 – Shells Town! Conjuring A Plan!**

* * *

The island was now in sight. It was a rather small island but with a big base that sat on the highest point. It was round and blue shaped building. On the outsides there were walls which had flags waving proudly in the sky. Below the base were small houses and buildings. Patches of green were seen at the sides of the island, which cut off most houses from each other.

The ship finally anchored at the Shells Town port.

The port was a lot like the port back at Loosha Village. There were restaurants and pubs sitting nearby with citizens going about their lives.

"Just up ahead from here is the market," Gurlop pointed, "But we'll have to be careful. Marines like to roam around"

"Oooh!" Tylias gasped in excitement, "I've never had to fight a Marine before. That'll be cool!"

"Hopefully that won't happen. We should lay low for the time being"

Tylias and the Shell Pirates jumped off the ship and proceeded to walk.

"I know a place where we can lay low. Follow me" said Gurlop while taking the lead.

During their walk, Tylias walked past all sorts of people and stores.  
The shops were selling all kinds of weird gizmos and gadgets. It was all quite new to him, being that he grew up in a small rural village. To more of his surprise, none of the citizens seem to be caring that a group of pirates was in town. As they continued, what turned from stores and houses turned into market stalls and barrels of fruit lying out in the open.  
The people in this area looked cheerful and happy to sell their items. The stall owners were waving to people, calling over random citizens that walked past to try what they had in store and throwing out compliments to their neighbors.

"Tylias, this is the market place. It's quite a nice area full of good people" Gurlop stated.

"Yeah" Tylias smiled, "I can definitely see that!"

Gurlop stopped in his tracks. "Well this is it"

They all stood at the entrance to a small café.

Gurlop walked in with his men to be greeted by a single lady working behind a counter.

Inside were small round tables with fancy cloths to dress the tables. Up against most of the walls were shelves stacked with books and vases. By the counter were fancy china plates hooked neatly on the wall with several other pots and pans.

"Hello, Ririka" Gurlop said as he waltzed inside.

Ririka was wearing light green shirt that appeared to be an apron. Her long brown hair was tied at the back of her. She lit up, happy to see her friend again.

"Hello! You're back early, what's the occasion?"

"Why don't you ask my new friend here?" Gurlop stated, letting Tylias pass him to walk inside.

"Hello, lady" he waved awkwardly, "My name is Tylias"

After the meet-and-greet, the group sat at a table in the corner of the café. It was here that the Shells Pirates told Tylias more about their vicious master.

"His name is Trunks" one of the pirates started. "And his henchwoman is named Julia"

Just hearing the girls name made the pirates gulp with fear. "I don't think its Trunks you have to fear though. I've never seen him fight on his own; he always uses Julia or his other pirates to do the dirty work"

"I see" Tylias listened. "But why haven't any of the Marines taken action? They've must've noticed something by now"

"Well you see" the pirate continued, chugging down his last sip of beer, "Trunks pays off the Marines to ignore him, including his workers. The citizens also don't like to cause a fuss when they see pirates, because they know they'll just be interfering with his plans"

"So that's why those townsfolk didn't even bother us?" Tylias asked.

"Yes" Gurlop said, butting into the conversation. "If we just got rid of Julia, we'd easily be able to take down Trunks. That henchwoman's name rings a bell. There's something about her that –"

"Then it's settled!" Tylias said, shooting up from his chair. "Let's go over to them and kick their asses!"

The pirates light-heartedly laughed together then corrected him. "I'm afraid it's not that easy. The entrance to the warehouse is guarded by his men. If he saw us with you, they'd kill us"

"Damn it…" he cursed, "Where is the warehouse anyway? I never saw it on the way here"

"The warehouse is just around the Marine base up the hill. We usually walk around the wall to get there. It used to be a place for the Marines to store stuff but ever since Trunks bought them off, he's been using it as a den" Gurlop answered.

A light bulb just exploded inside Tylias' head. He had come up with the best plan ever.

"I GOT IT!"

**[Hours Later]**

Gurlop and his crew were carrying one massive and heavy sack. Sweat poured off of them like while the scorching sunlight continued to torture their trip to Trunk's den.

"I hope that kid knows what he's doing" one of the pirates panted, pushing the sack further up the hill.

"Just shut up and keep pushing" another pirate barked as he pulled the sack from the other side.

The crew arrived at the walls to the Marine base. It was roughly 20 foot tall with Marine flags sitting on top. There was also a massive metal gate with the words "MARINE" on it clear as day. On the other side of the wall were a couple of buildings with cannons situation on top, but what was more noticeable was the massive tower. The tower had very few windows but a staircase that spiraled all the way around it on the outside.

Once the crew got another good look at the base, they proceeded to go all the way around the wall until they reached the very back. At the back were a few warehouses that, as Gurlop mentioned, were used as storage.

They walked past several other pirates that were equipped with the same clothing, although they ignored them.

The crew were just about dead beat by the time they arrived at the large metal doors. Gurlop hammered the door twice with his fists and waited patiently for them to open.

The metal doors slowly began to roll up, screeching and clanking, and the warehouse was in complete darkness, despite the light shining in.

"We're back. And we have something" Gurlop yelled out, his voice echoing throughout the dark place.

**(*flash*)**

The lights turned on and the door screeched shut behind them.

The warehouse was crammed with cardboard and wooden boxes, as well as the odd table or two.

They made their way around all the mess and arrived at the center of the warehouse.

The center was surrounded by all the junk they pushed past, making a nice round space. In the center was a long and polished table with many chairs to follow. Set out on the table were plates, jewels, cutlery, and stacks of money and at the very opposite side of this table sat their boss: Trunks.

"Oh, so you're back!" he wheezed, pushing away from the table.

He sat up from his desk to reveal his fancy tuxedo and black striped trousers. On his fingers were several golden rings and in-between them was his brown cigar.

He placed the cigar in his mouth, taking another deep inhale of the tobacco that he loved so dearly.

"Looks like you got a big haul there" he croaked, looking surprised.

He unbuttoned one of his lower buttons on his tuxedo to let a bit of his stomach fat hang loose for a while. The button looked ready to pop out anyway.

"Yeah, we robbed this dumb pirate," Gurlop grinned, "It was easy"

Trunks howled with laughter, throwing away his lit cigar to the ground, to give Gurlop a hug.

Gurlop could smell Trunks' cigar from his breath. He continued to wheeze as he patted his worker on the back to congratulate him.

After the intense hug, his boss proceeded to wipe his hands together and lick his lips. "Let's take a look"

Gurlop's men slowly began to untie the thick knot that was sealing the sack.

Trunks couldn't help but take a closer look as his men were untying the knot. He felt like he could just taste the treasure behind that sack. All that delicious gold and silver just waiting there for the taking.

"I can just taste it!" he hissed menacingly.

At the very second the knot came loose; he ripped the sack open and out poured a mountain of fish. Fish covered his shoes and a part of his fancy trousers.

Trunks, before he could even react, was given a fierce upper-cut by Tylias whom launched himself out of the sack of fish.

"TASTE MY FIST!" Tylias screamed loudly, his voice echoed through the warehouse.

* * *

**AN:**

**Thanks for reading! One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda!  
**


	7. The Warehouse Rumble!

**Chapter 8 – The Warehouse Rumble!**

* * *

The impact caused Trunks to fly back. Trunks was lifted off his feet and into the air.

**(*CRASH!*)**

Trunks' body collided with a large heap of the junk. Boxes and slabs of wood had covered his body, so nobody knew if he was conscious or not.

The noise caused the steel doors to roll open, revealing a group of pirates on the other side.

"What's going on in here?" they howled.

Gurlop and his hem turned around and unsheathed their swords.

"If you value your life, you'll turn around and walk away!"

The men paused then grinned menacingly.

"Oh, so it's a rebellion, huh?"

Before they knew it, they were charging at each other, hacking and slashing away with their swords.

Tylias would've helped, but something caught his eye in the distance.

In the far corner of the room sat a cloaked person. The cloaked person was completely hidden in the corner, hiding in what was left of the shadows.

"Geez, I hit that guy pretty hard." Tylias sniggered while cracking his fingers. "Hey Gur, you need any help?"

"Nah" he replied, crouching from an attack, "Me and my boys are having some fun here!"

Tylias picked up a fish from the sack and began eating it. He then picked up another, and another.

"Can't let these go to waste" he muffled due to his mouth being full.

"You're a peculiar boy" the cloaked figure said soothingly. "What business do you have here?"

Tylias looked up to respond but the figure was gone. Instead, the person was already standing beside him.

"AHH!" he screamed, jumping out of the sack. "Don't scare me like that!"

The mysterious person sighed beneath its cloak and with a blink, a katana was pointing right at Tylias.

"I said…" the person repeated, "What business do you have here?"

The katana was a single-edged sword with a curved blade. The handle colour was light red and, from what he could see, had a pattern carved in it.

"Oooh!" he awed in a whisper, "Nice sword!"

"FOOL!" the cloaked person yelled.

The person withdrew the sword and twirled. The cloak flew off and swayed into the air, as if the wind blew it.

Tylias only now realized that it was a girl he was talking to and he was even stunned by her beauty.

"Woaaaah!" he screamed, admiring her long brown hair that was near shoulder length.

Her body was slim and smooth and quite toned, much like the figure of an hour-glass.

She wore torn dirty trousers as well as a brown shirt, just like Gurlop and his men.

"I won't ask you again, child!" she sneered, pointing her sword at him once more, "What's your business here? And why did you hurt my master!?"

"Because he's a bad guy" he replied nonchalantly.

"You know nothing!" she yelled, her eyes turning from mystical to deadly. "You know nothing of our master's kindness!"

"KINDNESS" Tylias laughed loudly, "Not from what I heard"

"THAT'S RIGHT" Trunks croaked, pushing aside the crates and junk, "Julia here owes me her life for what I've done to help her"

The bruised boss proceeded to light another cigar and took a deep inhale. He smiled widely, revealing his pure white teeth. Smoke began to seep out in-between the teeth and he spoke again, "Isn't that right, Julia my dear?"

"Yes, master" she replied, her voiced quivered slightly. Although she had the eyes of a serious killer, beneath them lied something else. Something hidden from the rest of the world.

Tylias, taking a bite from another fish, spouted "Don't believe it. Not in a million years"

He continued to chow down on the piles of fish still in the sack, to astonishment of Julia and Trunks.

"That does it!" Julia hissed furiously, "**THORN STING!**"

She and her sword charged straight on, with hopes of impaling the fish obsessed pirate.

Tylias saw the attack coming and shifted to the side, her attack completely missing.

In the heat of the moment, just before she could use another attack, he picked up a fresh fish tucked away in the sack and smacked her across the face with it.

"**FISH SLAP!"** he yelled out, the fish smacking her cheek.

Julia stopped for a second, her entire face beginning to go red and steam shooting out of her, to shout, "IS THAT REALLY YOUR FIGHTING STRATEGY?! I'M BEING SERIOUS HERE!"

Tylias shoved another fish in his mouth just before replying.

"Mmph, mmph, mmm mpphuh" he choked, with his mouth full, unable to speak.

"How dare you humiliate me! How dare you mock my dream!" she yelled, swinging her katana from the side.

He swallowed a large chunk of fish and proceeded to yell out his next move.

"**COPY-COPY DECOY!"**

**(*Poof-poof-poof*)**

Several copies of Tylias appeared in a circle, completely surrounding Julia and Trunks.

They all began to run around, still maintaining a circle, so that the real Tylias could be mixed up with them.

Whilst all of this was happening, everybody in the warehouse was watching. Gurlop and his crew had stopped fighting Trunk's workers.

"Wow, I've never made this many copies before!" they all laughed together. "Must've been from all that fish I ate!"

"A devil fruit user" Julia said in amazement, completely puzzled by what she was seeing.

"No matter!" she then said, raising her sword. "**THORN AGILITY!**"

One by one the copies vanished in dust as Julia was rapidly taking them out in mere seconds. At the blink of an eye she appeared in one place and then the next. All of this was happening while Tylias, being connected to his copies, could feel the cuts she was making. His devil fruit powers come at a great price that he can't swim, but he can also feel the pain that his copies are feeling. While he'll never pass out from pain, it was still a risky move.

"_Wow, she's fast!"_he thought to himself.

More and more copies began to disappear as they all ran around panicking. Trunks, during all of this, was laughing up a storm while Gurlop and everybody couldn't keep their eyes off the epic battle.

As the last copy died out, Tylias picked up a random piece of wood in hopes it would shield him.

Julia sent her katana strike downwards, slicing straight through the piece of wood but not touching him.

Despite that, she kept her sword steady as he felt backwards and on to the ground.

"Stop mocking me and my dreams, you worthless pirate! I will never lose to you!" she screamed, huffing and panting. The agility attack seemed to have worn her out.

"Your dreams?" Tylias spouted.

Julia collapsed to the ground, tears beginning to flow out her eyes.

"Yes" she answered, "My dream to become the greatest fighter and capture pirates!"

Trunks suddenly burst out laughing.

"Get up, Julia! Don't be such a weakling!"

"Y-Yes" she sniffed, getting off the ground. "Yes, master"

"YOU LEAVE HER ALONE, YOU FAT IDIOT!" Tylias yelled in rage.

"NO! YOU SHUT UP!" she said, grabbing onto Tylias. "YOU KNOW NOTHING!"

Tears began to pour out more rapidly; she tried desperately to hide them.

"You don't know how Trunks once saved me!"

* * *

**AN: **

**Thanks for reading! As always, One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda.**


	8. Julia! Shells Town's Cruelty!

**Chapter 9 – Julia! Shells Town's Cruelty!**

* * *

"You don't know how Trunks once saved me!"

"_I was only 10 years old when it happened…"_

**[FLASHBACK – 10 Years Ago – Shells Town]**

Rain pelted Shells Town as a new batch of pirates entered the town, heavily disguised in rain coats.  
Julia, now a young girl in a purple tank top dress and long skirt, sat in her room watching the rain tap against her window. There was the odd lightning strike in the distance, which she was keeping track of.

Every time lightning struck, she counted upwards.

"Mom!" she called, "Is dad home yet? He would've been back an hour ago!"

"Not yet, sweetheart!" her mom called back, "Just come down and have dinner, he'll be okay with that… And don't bring that sword down."

With that said - she left the view from the window and charged downstairs, ready for her meal.  
The sweet smell of fruit and veg came from the kitchen area, much to her pleasure.

"Your dads going to miss out…" they both chuckled, "his loss"

The plates filled with vegetables were neatly laid out on the table. With one chair space still empty, they both sat down to begin eating their meal.

"How's practice?" her mother asked, starting the conversation.

"It was okay" she replied, her look then turned to distaste, "But I got beat again"

Her mom then smiled and pinched her daughter's cheek.

"You'll get better soon" she stated, "Sometimes the best way to win a fight isn't in strength but in speed"

"Huh?" her daughter spouted curiously, "But …"

"It's true, Julia. While strength is important in any fight, so is speed and elegance. The whole point of handling a katana is being quick, yet delicate"

Julia scoffed and gave a rotten look towards her mother. "And how would YOU know?"

She smiled and shrugged. "I guess I don't. But I'm simply trying to help"

"Well that's okay, mom" she smiled. "My dream will come true, even if it means I'm beaten a million times"

They had both finished eating dinner, with a plate still left out for her dad.  
At this point, they were both worried but none of them could step out in such weather.  
Julia walked back upstairs to wash her hands and go to bed. She hoped that he'd be back by morning.

**(*CLASH*)**

"_Dad must be home!"_she happily thought to herself.

However that was suddenly false when screaming and yelling erupted from below.  
As she hid in the bathroom, all she could hear were loud laughing and screaming. The screaming was definitely coming from her mom. Her legs began to shake and she contemplated on screaming for help, but that would only alert the intruders.

Instead, mustering all the courage to even get out of the bathroom, she quickly walked into her room and grabbed her sword.  
Her sword was neatly positioned on the wall. It had a red handle with a carving on it, which resembled a rose with thorns.  
She tip-toed downstairs as the yelling got louder. Luckily, the door was still wide open so the noise from the storm was covering the noise she was making.

"Grab everything valuable! Just grab it!"

With one last deep breath, she raised her sword and charged the rest of the way.  
The intruders turned around quickly, to show that they were pirates. They were wearing dirty and torn brown clothes, which made her think they were just homeless people at first glance.

Despite her shaking, she kept a brave face as her mother was lying on the ground and injured.

"GET OUT!" she screeched wildly, pointing her katana. "GET OOOOUUT!"

"Ignore her!" one of the pirates yelled, "Go upstairs!"

One of the pirates, armed with a knife, attempted to walk past her and head upstairs, but she swung her katana which the pirate managed to avoid, at the cost of a tiny cut on his arm.

"WHY YOU-…"

"DON'T TOUCH HER!" the other pirate yelled, presumably the leader. "She's important!"

Julia began to point her sword at different pirates.

"Just get out… Please!" she cried. "Please!"

Julia continued to shake until she looked down at her mother again. She lay helplessly in the corner with cuts and bruises.  
At this point she was more in rage than scared. With one swing, she charged at the intruders with all her force and screamed. She went in to swipe her katana, only for a hand from the back to grab her.

"Too slow" the pirate grinned.

The pirate from behind pushed her to the ground and laughed as she never got back up.

"We need to leave. The Marines will be here any second!"

The pirates marched out, with a bag of items, and left her and her mother inside.

As soon as they left, Julia crawled towards her mother, drenched in tears.

"Mom?" she whispered, trying to raise her voice.

Her mom raised her head and made a slight smile.

"I'm okay, sweetheart. But you need to get out of here"

"N-No!" she refused, wiping the tears from her face. "We're going to get out and find the Marines!"

"Julia" she coughed, blood beginning to drip from her lips. "Get out. I don't want you to see me like this. Go out and find help. Go the market place and find help!"

The idea of running for help made sense to her. "Okay!" she said. "I'll go out and find help!"

She ran out of the house as fast as she could to be met with a wild storm.

She pushed her way through the high wind, with only her mother in mind, and finally met Marines that were running towards her.

"LITTLE GIRL!" one of them said.

"Please!" she screamed, her voice being drowned out by the storm, "My mom is hurt!"

Her and several Marines in their usual clothing, which consisted of a white coat with blue stripes and a hat that clearly stated "MARINE" on it, ran towards her home. Due to the storm, it was only her and the Marines that were out, which she counted herself lucky for.

Annoyingly, the storm stopped by the time the Marines had entered the home. Julia waited outside to see if her dad would arrive but it never happened.  
From inside, she could hear quiet chatter but couldn't make out what they were saying.

Moments later, one marine stepped out. Then another and then another. The looks on their faces could only be described as shook.

"What about my mom? Is she okay?" Julia questioned instantly.

A marine stopped and bent to her level to look directly at her.

The marine gently placed his harm on her shoulder and with that… Everything went blank.

**[A Week Later – Shells Town]**

Julia wandered around the marketplace. She was now wearing a cloak that hid her face very well, with her katana that sat idly by her hips.  
She kept her head down, refusing to look up for even a second. Seeing the cold and hard ground she stepped on was the only thing keeping her mind from thinking of the events before.

The Marines retrieved her sword for her out of respect. According to them, her dad was also killed by the pirates after heading home from work, although she had her doubts. Over the couple of days, the Marines looked after her, fed her and made sure she was clothed. Each day, she'd have to go back to the Marine base. As she walked through the market place, she could hear whispers from the crowds. Some people even watched her from their windows.

"Isn't that the girl of those poor parents?" they whispered and stared.

She could've sworn she also heard one of them saying they shouldn't help.

"This is probably to do with that Trunks guy. We should just leave it alone"

"What? Are you serious? She's just a girl"

"But not worth getting into trouble with Trunks for"

She was out of the marketplace and away from any living person. The walk through the marketplace felt like an eternity. She wanted to scream, yell, slash someone. Just anything to ease her pain which she suffered in silence. In front of her was her house. It was still normal on the outside, but to think of what happened on the inside made her stomach churn.

She took a deep breath, grinding her teeth whilst she did, and yelled.

"I'LL GET YOU PIRATES ONE DAY! THAT IS MY DREAM!"

A slow clap came from behind her.

For a second, she thought of pulling out her katana but that'd only draw more attention to her.

"You're a brave child" the voice belonged to a man who threw away his cigar.

"And who are you?" Julia asked, trying to sound intimidating, but that only made the man laugh.

"I like you, kid" he coughed. "Despite everything that's happened, you can still keep a brave face"

The man stood beside her, looking at her house which was now closed off.

"That didn't answer my question"

He began to laugh again and coughed. "I'm just called Trunks. You've probably heard of me!"

She gasped and stepped back from the dangerous person.

"People say you're a bad person. That you're a mob boss!"

"MOB BOSS?!" he howled with laughter. "Nah. I'm just a guy that's all about business!"

She took one look at him and rolled her eyes.

"Whatever" she sighed. "It was nice talking to you, I guess. But I have a goal to fulfil"

"You wanna catch bad guys and become good with that katana of yours, right? Trunks asked.

The girl turned and nodded.

"Yes. That's right. I want to become a powerful swordswoman. I want to catch pirates and put them in jail!" she stated proudly.

"I can help you with that" he wheezed with a menacing smile. "People may say I'm a bad guy, but I have a heart. How's about I look after you. With the money I earn, you'll get all the training you'll ever need!"

"Y-You mean it?" she said happily, her eyes widened in excitement.

"I promise" he replied with a smile.

Julia ran towards him and wrapped her arms around him.

Trunks gave one last chuckle and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"I'll look after you now"

* * *

**AN: **

**Thanks for reading! One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda!**


	9. Trunks! The Man Of Manipulation!

**Chapter 10 – Trunks! The Man Of Manipulation!**

* * *

**[PRESENT DAY – Shells Town – Trunk's Den]**

"And if maybe I was faster with my sword… I would've been able to save her" she finally said, ending her story.

At first, there wasn't a sound to be heard. Throughout the entire warehouse, everything was silent, to the point where you could hear a pin drop.

"There's something that doesn't add up, however" she whispered, "They said I was important. At the time, I was too scared to even care, but ever since then, it's been haunting me"

"I'm sorry," Tylias spoke up, "but try to understand that you won't get your revenge this way. As long as you're with him, that won't happen.

"BE QUIET!" she hissed, "Trunks saved me! He's the reason I've gotten stronger!"

"Listen to the lady, little brat" her boss chuckled.

He began to place his hand on his chest, "I helped her in her time of need"

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" screamed a voice in the background.

Everybody turned to see a crying Gurlop on his knees. He used his arms to shield his eyes.

"That isn't true and you know it" he sniffed, "So this is why know your name"

Tylias snapped his fingers as he recalled the events from the café.

"You said her name ringed a bell, right?"

He nodded in the response, removing his arm to show his puffy red eyes.

"It's because I was one of the pirates that raided her home"

The entire warehouse went silent as Gurlop continued to cry.

"I was young at the time and I desperately needed a job. Trunks promised me everything I could ever want… I –"

Julia had mixed feelings about who she'd kill first. Her anger was almost blinding. She couldn't make out what her mind was telling her, as there were only screams and yells from her mother. These are the thoughts she hadn't had in a long time. She growled in fury, her eyes were now set on Gurlop.

She raised her katana and charged, "I'll kill you!"

Gurlop didn't even try to move. He felt like this is something he deserved. After all the bad things he did to innocent people, he felt like this was his punishment. "I'm sorry" he whimpered, lowering his head.

Before she could get closer, slow claps were heard throughout the warehouse. They were slow and loud. The claps stopped only for a wheezing laughter to follow. Of course, it was Trunk.

"Good show, good show indeed!"

She stopped in her tracks only inches away from slicing Gurlop into two pieces.

"You really have gotten stronger"

She ignored Trunks and turned her attention back to Gurlop. No matter what happened, he'd be next in line so delaying the inevitable was pointless.

She raised her katana slightly above the crying man's shoulder and swung it down with a single strike. She had her eyes closed during the process and Gurlop didn't even flinch.

Her katana came in contact with flesh. She could feel the edges of the katana slowly digging in. She looked down and opened her eyes.

She was expecting Gurlop to be curled into a ball lying in a pool of his blood but that wasn't what happened.

Tylias stood between them, his hand raised and holding the katana by the blade. Gurlop was still on the ground but could see his new friend standing in front of him and shielding him from any harm.

"Is this what you want?" he growled, fury leaking from his voice to the point his other hand was shaking. "Is this what you meant by revenge? KILLING SOMEONE?"

Julia let go of the katana and fell back. She covered her mouth in horror as Tylias was still holding on to the blade. The blade had managed to cut through the bandage that was wrapped around his hand and blood was trickling out.

"Why… Why would you –"

"Because he's my friend," he barked, stopping her mid-sentence, "and you were going to kill him"

He dropped the katana in front of her but her eyes were still focusing on Tylias who looked angrier than ever. "You're too blind to see that this is what Trunks wants. Whatever happened to capturing bad guys and throwing them in jail? Isn't that your dream!?"

"Tylias, please stop" Gurlop spoke up, "I've done a lot of bad things. I deserve this"

"SHUT UP!" he yelled in response. "If you're sorry, then you'll stand up and fight. You think cowering and crying will make up for what you've done!?"

He then turned his attention to Trunks. He stared him down with his eyes that felt like they could pierce through the thickest armour.

"And the way I see it," he said, "there's a bad guy in this room with us and he's standing right behind you, Julia"

She stood up and looked at Trunks then back to Tylias. She did this again and again and again until her mind was made up. She felt stupid for not seeing it before. Her anger clouded her mind so much that she failed to see the real villain behind it all: Trunks.

"Gurlop was just a pawn to you, wasn't he?" she asked him, "And so am I"

Trunks chuckled, lighting yet another cigar and responded menacingly.

"I guess you're right"

"But why?" she asked, "Why go after my family?"

"No connections and no friends. This is why I targeted you" he stated, "You and your family weren't well-known people in Shells Town. Do you think people would have cared if something happened to them? But then again, you were something special. A young girl inspired to be the world's best swordswoman and capture bad guys. It was perfect. I did lose some money in the process; however, the marines really were beginning to become a thorn in my sides."

"So you really did pay off the marines" Gurlop said in shock, "but that goes against what they stand for"

"It does" Trunks grinned, "but when you put money on the table, people will do anything to have it. You'll be surprised what you can find out about the citizens of Shells Town when you throw a bit of money into the air"

"So why me? Out of all the people in the East Blue, you picked me!?" she yelled.

Trunks sighed and threw away his cigar, despite it still being freshly lit, "Because it's best to start when they're young!"

He clapped his hands together and more of his workers poured in to the warehouse.

"I'm afraid this is where we part ways. It was fun toying with you, Julia, But I have to let you go. After all, I'll just find another kid! "

Julia and Tylias stood back-to-back as it seemed all the workers he had were surrounding them, including Gurlop and his crew.

"I can't take care of them all" Tylias grinned.

"Then don't" Julia replied picking up her katana, "Me and Gurlop will handle it"

"Then it's settled…" Tylias said. "Trunks is all mine!"

Gurlop's crew pulled him up from the ground and smiled.

"We're in this together, remember?"

They were officially surrounded. Trunk's men wielded a variety of weapons including swords.

Trunks stood cross-armed behind it all hoping for a good show. He never thought anything of Gurlop or his other men. However, Julia was expensive and a dangerous person. It agitated him that he'd have to give her up, but perhaps he'd find a tougher and younger kid to take his side.

There were yells among the workers, they had planned to take down Julia first as she was undoubtedly the strongest among them all.

They all charged at the same time, planning to take them down from all sides and kill them.

"**THORN AGILITY"** Julia called, suddenly disappearing on the spot.

She appeared in several places at the blink of an eye. Her speed was impossible to keep up with.

This was Gurlop's cue to finally attack as he charged in among the chaos.

None of Trunks' men were strong enough to take them all down. They weren't the fighting type.

Julia's attack caused several gaps among the workers, giving Tylias an opportunity to break through the fight.

"Go! I'll take care of them!"

Tylias ran through the barrage and ended up on the far side of the warehouse. Pieces of junk and crates that were scattered throughout the warehouse were everywhere. Some were smashed and split into pieces while others were simply being used as a weapon.

"Going somewhere?" Tylias said fiercely.

He caught Trunks trying to sneak out from the back, but he stopped and turned around.

"You just never give up," he sighed, "are you going to lecture me as well?"

"Nah" the pirate laughed, "I'm just gonna kick your ass, that's all"

"You'll try!" he yelled, pulling out a flintlock from his coat.

The flintlock looked like it had seen better days. It was old and rusty and looked like it hadn't been fired in years.

"**COPY-COPY DECOY!"**

Right beside Tylias spawned a half-dead copy. It was pale and looked weak.

"DAMN IT, I NEED MORE FOOD!"

Trunks aimed his flintlock and fired.

The sound was like a bomb exploding. It echoed through the entire warehouse was louder than the battle that was taking place in the background.

More importantly, the shot completely missed. The knockback on the flintlock caused Trunks to drop it and flinch. It was plain that Trunks never fought his own battles, but always relied on someone else to fight them.

"My turn" Tylias smiled.

He picked up his ill copy and started twirling on the spot. He used all of his remaining strength to see if this technique would work.

He suddenly let go of his copy and it was hurled towards Trunks.

"**HAMMER THROW!"**

The copy was flying like a heat seeking missile towards Trunks who stood frozen.  
The copy didn't seem to care about what was going on, he seemed contempt with being used this way.

Before he could dive out the way, the copy made a direct hit and he was sent vaulting backwards.  
Tylias immediately clasped his forehead and yelled. "I'm never using that attack again!"

He turned around, Trunks now knocked unconscious, and watched the battle rage on.  
Julia didn't look like she was breaking a sweat. She kept using her agility attack, spawning in different locations and scaring away the workers.  
She never intended to hurt them only scare them, as they too were just Trunks' tools to be used.

Most of them ran but some stayed to fight.  
"I don't want to hurt you" she stated, stopping her agility attack.

"Our boss promised us money!" they replied, still wanting to fight.

"Then I'm sorry for what I'm about to do"

She leapt high into the air and swung her sword into a straight horizontal line.

"**THORN WIND-NEEDLE" **

A rush of air blew out from her sword. The gust forced its way towards the workers and chased them. Most were unlucky enough to get out but some were caught in the wind. The wind at first cradled them, and then finally blasted them out of the warehouse.

With the fight now over, Tylias wasted no time in picking Trunks up and slamming him on the table that was set in the centre of the warehouse.

"You're going to apologise for what you did!" he hissed at him.

He coughed and wheezed and responded with "Never".

Julia took a handful of the treasure that was scattered all across the table and slowly let it slip through her fingers. "I wonder if the Marines and your workers will continue to work for you"

"Of course they will" he giggled, "Money can buy anything and I have plenty of it"

"Can it?" she responded, "Money can't buy love or friendship and it sure as hell can't buy out somebodies dreams"

The last of the treasure she picked up had slipped through her fingers and rolled onto the ground.

She grinned before covering Trunks with the sack Tylias arrived in.

**[Moments Later]**

Tylias, Julia, Gurlop and his crew were walking around the Marine base. Tylias and Julia were each carrying one big sack.

The sack that Julia carried was squirming and muffled cries could be heard.

"Let me out!" the voice screamed, the sack continuing to squirm, "Let me out!"

"Isn't he heavy?" Tylias asked curiously.

"Not heavy enough" Julia grinned.

She took hold of the sack with both hands and flung it over the Marine base wall. There was a loud thud noise from the other side.

She rubbed both of her hands together before finally cheering goodbye to her old boss.

They arrived at the gate entrance to the base. The gates were still sealed shut with no one around.

The sun was beginning to set, leaving only a ray of sunshine that was pointing directly at them.

They all continued walking; escorting Tylias back to his ship with his sack full of Trunks' treasure.

"I'm sure he won't mind" Tylias chuckled, keeping a tight grip of the sack.

They quietly shuffled their way through the marketplace which was luckily empty at this time of night.

"You're sure about this?" Gurlop asked.

"Yup," Tylias responded, "you can keep half of his treasure"

"What will I do with it?" he stated worryingly, thinking about what would happen if Marines caught him.

"Whatever you want" the pirate chuckled.

They all reached his ship. It was still anchored at the port waiting for him.

"So this is your ship" Julia said, admiring it.

"Yeah, it doesn't have a Jolly Roger, but I'm proud of it"

Tylias walked on board the ship and placed the sack on the deck. He couldn't be bothered moving into the ship's storage.

He stood at the very edge, looking at his new friends. "I guess this is it"

"I guess it is" the swordswoman sighed, "I'll see you around"

"I've decided" Gurlop stated. "I'm going to use the treasure to help anybody that I harmed in the past"

"What about your men?" Tylias asked, remembering he had other friends.

"They'll follow their own dreams, just like I will too. So what about your dream?" he smiled.

"You know what it is," he laughed, "to become king of the pirates!"

"_King of the pirates?" Julia thought to herself._

The night was beginning to get cold as they each paused to stare at each other.

It would be a long time before Tylias ever comes back to the East Blue. He was sure going to miss his new friends. However knowing that they've each forgave each other, he feels like they'll get along just fine.

Tylias turned his back to set sail as Gurlop and Julia continued to watch.

He nudged her with his shoulder and whispered. "What about your dreams?"

"Mine? I'll find a way somehow" she whispered back.

Gurlop slightly chuckled and spoke again.

"You won't achieve them on this island. I think you know what to do. Goodbye, Julia"

She paused and thought about it. The next step she'd take would be the biggest she's ever made in her life. If Tylias is going to follow his dreams, then she should too.

"Now how do I do this again?" Tylias sighed as he scratched his head.

"Need a hand?" said a voice from behind.

He didn't even have to turn around to know who it was. It was Julia.

He smiled with his back still turned, trying to figure out how to set sail.

"I figured you could use a crew member," she stated, "so how's about it?"

She could see Tylias was shaking. She didn't know if it was from being cold, angry or happy.

He turned around and wrapped his arms around her.

"OF COURSE YOU CAN COME!" he cheered, jumping around the deck, still holding on to Julia.

"C-calm down!" she panted, struggling for breath as Tylias' grip got tighter.

"THIS IS GOING TO BE AWESOME! I SAW YOUR AWESOME WIND ATTACK AND STUFF. IT WAS SO COOL THE WAY YOU – "

During his ranting, she slipped out of his grip and managed to get the ship sailing.

"So am I your first crew member?" she asked.

"Yup!" he said, giving a thumbs-up. "You'll have the role of being a First Mate-Navigator-Cook-Shipwright Swordswoman!"

"YOU'RE KIDDING ME!" she yelled in protest.

The ship drifted away from Shells Town as they continued to yell at each other.

It had only been a minute since she said she wanted to join and already they were bickering.  
During their argument, Julia smiled as the events of Shells Town were now behind her.

Her new adventure with Tylias was just the beginning.

* * *

**AN:**

**The longest chapter yet!  
As always, thanks for reading! One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda**


	10. Arrival At Tree-Top Tower!

**Arrival At Tree Top Tower!**

* * *

It had been an entire day since the events at Shells Town.

The ship sailed calmly on the tame seas of the East Blue. Seagulls cried in the sky as they flew in a circle type of pattern directly above the ship.

The only thing that kept Tylias' mind off his empty stomach was the seagulls. Not because they were interesting, but because it could possibly be his next meal.

Julia and Tylias lay on the deck, staring into the sky, trying to cool off and stop thinking about food.

Unfortunately, he didn't think to empty some of the fish out of the sack before he used it as a disguise.

"Julia…" he said weakly, "Why do my plans always backfire?"

Julia turned her head to face the half-naked captain that lay helplessly on the ground.

"Because you're an idiot?

Tylias moaned out loud.

"My dad used this as a fishing boat before he gave it to me, and I never thought to ask him for his fishing gear"

Hearing this, she laughed weakly, "If that isn't an insult to injury then I don't know what is"

They both continued to watch the seagulls fly freely in the sky. The seagulls began to squawk loudly, continuing to fly around in their pattern.

"They're mocking us" he pointed, slowly lifting his hand. "Go get em', Julia"

"Me?" she chuckled. "Why don't you?"

"Because I don't have that sword thingy" he replied back. "Aren't you hungry, too?"

"Not enough to force myself up" she yawned lazily, stretching her legs and arms.

"Great. We're tired AND hungry" the captain sighed.

Only minutes had passed and Tylias managed to stand on his feet. The sun felt like it was hammering him back due to the intense heat. She looked at Julia, who was still on the ground, and noticed she was still wearing the same clothes as before.

The clothes were brown, dirty, torn and basically meant Trunks owned you, as all of his other works wore the same clothing.

"You should take off those clothes" he pointed out.

Julia immediately sat up and looked at him as if she saw a ghost.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!"

"Oh" he waved frantically, "not like that! I mean – "

He was cut off by Julia's fist that swung right at his head.

A giant red lump had grown from where she had hit, leaving Tylias dazed and confused.

"I didn't mean it like that" he slurred, toppling over.

She sighed deeply as she stared out into the distance.

"When we get to Logue Town, we need to buy some clothes" she stated.

"I hear ya'" he agreed, "We also need a Navigator, otherwise how else are we gonna get to the grand line"

* * *

**[Meanwhile in Shells Town – 153****rd**** Branch Marine Base]**

Shells Town was currently getting the same treatment by the scorching hot weather. Marines that roamed outside had taken off their traditional marine hats and unbuttoned their shirts, some of which revealed battle scars from previous battles on their chests.

However, one Marine looked down in all of this. He groaned as drops of sweat drenched his forehead. When the door to his supposed office swung open, he quickly wiped it away and putting on a brave face.

"Oh, it's you" the marine sneered. "Why haven't you been taken to Impel Down yet?"

Trunks stood by the door with armed Marines by his side, his nose was covered in tissue and his face bruised.

"All in due time" he wheezed, "but first, there's a certain pirate you should know of"

The Marine sighed, "We're done taking orders from you. The fact you even paid us off in the first place puts me to shame." He looked back out the window to see his comrades wandering around. "Two weeks without food as punishment. Four weeks for me"

Trunks chuckled, pulling out his usual cigar like he always does. "Well money can be very influential, especially in times of great need, Lieutenant Rokkaku"

"Just shut up!" he barked, "And what "certain pirate" are you talking about?"

Trunks cooed as the memories came flooding back to him. Being uppercut, having your swordswoman turn against you and then being thrown over the base wall.

"He's not very well-known. From what I know, he's called 'Tylias'"

"Tylias?" Rokkaku said, stroking his beard. "Was this the guy that threw you over the wall?"

"Not exactly" he replied hatefully, "But still, he's a devil fruit user"

"In the East Blue? Strange… The Grand Line is swarming with devil fruit users nowadays, but it's been quite a while since I heard one in East Blue" he said.

"Well I only came here to let you know of his ANNOYING existence" he finally said, ready to take leave. "Before I go, you should know that my partner betrayed me. You know who she is"

Rokkaku's eyes widened. He knew exactly who he was talking about.

"You don't mean Julia, do you?"

"The very same" he nodded, "so you know what to do, as per our agreement"

"WAIT!" he hissed, grabbing Trunks' attention. "Just remember, as soon as we place the bounty, you're not allowed back in here. Is that clear?"

He shrugged and replied, "Indeed. And I'll rest peacefully in Impel Down knowing that the Marines are on the case"

Rokkaku, after waiting for Trunks to leave, picked up the Transponder Snail that sat idly on his desk and made a call.

"This is Lieutenant Rokkaku with a request"

He then paused briefly and spoke again. "I request a bounty to be placed on Julia. Julia Wells"

* * *

**[Back at an unknown location in East Blue]**

"Are we there yet?" the bored captain droned on. "Are we there yet?"

"WOULD YOU BE QUIET?!" the furious swordswoman screamed. "It's still a while to go!"

They both sat in the kitchen area, keeping out of the heat.

Tylias stared at Julia's sword in admiration. He quite liked the colour red and the carvings on it.

"Can I see that sword?" he requested.

"Nope" she replied flatly, twiddling her thumbs. She then stared at Tylias' bandanna that was wrapped around his bicep. "Can I see that bandanna?"

Tylias gasped in terror, covering his red bandanna with his hand.

"Nobody gets to touch my lucky bandanna!"

"Lucky bandanna?" she scoffed, "What's so lucky about it?"

"I don't know" he shrugged, not taking his eye off the katana that sat so openly on the table. "But it helped this one time when I was –"

He then charged from his seat, grabbing onto the sword before Julia could react. "GOT IT!"

He then ran out of the kitchen area and on to the deck.

"YOU'RE DEAD!" she yelled, chasing after him.

She kicked open the door to see Tylias remained still on the deck and he was staring into the distance.

Julia had instantly noticed why. In the distance sat a large tower. On top of the tower was a disc shaped platform that branched out to other several large platforms like a tree branch. The tower had reached as high as the clouds.

"This day… Just got a whole lot more exciting"

As the ship sailed closer to the gigantic tower, the disc shaped platforms from above had created massive shadows beneath it. As the ship passed under one, everything had gone dark and cold due the shadow being that huge.

"What the heck is this place?" Julia said, completely shocked.

"I don't know!" Tylias cheered in excitement, "But let's check it out!"

The eager captain was literally shaking in awe at the massive platforms. As they sailed beneath, coming close to a massive and expanding port, it became clear how these platforms were connected.

There were bridges connecting the discs, and some thick metal girders were supporting the discs. The girders were all attached to the main tower and simply stretched out.

The ship had finally reached the port. The port was decorated and had wooden floorboards instead of the usual concrete as ground to step on.

As Julia threw the anchor, a man walked up to greet them. He bowed politely, lowering his head and then straightened himself.

"Welcome to Tree Top!" he stated clearly in an oddly thick posh accent. "I, whilst you enjoy yourselves, will be taking care of the ship"

"COOOOOOOOOOOL!" Tylias erupted in a cheer, blood shooting out of his nose.

"Excuse me, - uh – sir? What is this place?" the swordswoman asked politely, trying not to be embarrassed by her captain.

"This, madam, is the 'Tree Top' tower. It is home to sport events and championships," the posh butler answered. "Most notably the Archery championship. I assume you have money for entry?"

Julia had rushed into the kitchen area and into the storage deck and grabbed a large pile of coins from the treasure sack.

Love hearts began to appear in her eyes. "Will this cover it?" she said in awe.

The butler had laughed aloud and took a small pile from her hands, "Of course. Please enjoy your stay. Here are your tickets"

Julia grabbed hold of the still bleeding Tylias and the tickets and rushed out of the port area and ascended the long climb to the top of the tower.

The steps spiralled all the way up until it reached the top, like the steps in the Marine base at Shells Town.

"What's your problem? Let go of me!" he yelled while struggling to get her to let go of him.

"Archery!" she panted, rushing up the steps, "Is my favourite sport!"

"I thought you liked swords and stuff?"

"Well duh," she rolled her eyes, "But Archery is maybe my second favourite thing ever!"

The rushing pirate carrying her captain almost reached the top. Looking down was one of the worst mistakes Tylias could have ever made during the run upwards. The line of ships and sailboats that were anchored below were now just small dots at this point.

"You can let go of me now!"

She dropped him to the ground and ran off, leaving dust behind.

"Come on, let's go!"

"Nah, you're on your own. I'm gonna look around"

He stood up, wiping dirt off his shirt and scanned the area. He was immediately met with hundreds of people walking around, laughing and talking, and enjoying the luxurious day. Some carried merchandise and food such as cotton candy and lollipops. Kids ran around, giggling and playing with toy swords and slingshots. "Wait," Tylias said to himself, "Is this really a sports complex?"

**(*grumble*)**

His stomach growled with hunger. He hadn't eaten anything since Shells Town which was yesterday, although for him, it felt like an eternity.  
He covered his stomach and bent down to cover the noise. Another grumble sound from his stomach was followed by a small moan from Tylias. "That's right," he moaned, "I'm still hungry!"

He looked around as the crowds of people still marched to the left of the platform, rushing through some of bridge, and onto the next platform. "Need food!"

"Hungry, kid?" a voice echoed to his ears from behind.

He snapped around to see an armed Marine. "I have some money here, if that'll help?"

"_Is this some kind of trick?"_

Tylias held out his hand with hesitation and the Marine placed coins on the palm of his hand.

"Where are your parents?"

"P-P-Parents?" the pirate, Tylias stuttered in disbelief.

The Marine smiled and walked off before patting Tylias on the head.  
The pirate stood for a while and watched the Marine walk away into the crowd while he wrapped around his mind on what just happened. "He thought I was a kid?"

Suddenly another person approached from behind. This time he was pushed out of the way.  
"Watch it, kid!" the person yelled before disappearing like the Marine.

"I'M NOT A KID!"

* * *

**[Julia's POV]**

Julia stood among various other people waiting in a long cue.  
She rolled her eyes and continued, for what seemed like the tenth, to observe her surroundings.  
The butler at the port was right that 'Tree Top' tower was known for Archery Championships, as it looked like everybody wanted to watch the event.

Directly above her was a sign that clearly stated: West Wing.  
The line to the stadium finally started moving and she could notice other things. What immediately caught her attention was another platform to the right. She could only assume that it was the North Wing to the tower, as it was connected to every other platform using bridges.

The line was now growing thinner and she was beginning to close in on the stadium. Outside of the cue were citizens that sat on grassy hills watching a massive screen, which looked like to be live coverage of the event. Whatever this place was, it was huge. Her legs were still quivering at the thought of the huge platforms collapsing beneath them, meaning everybody would plummet into the ocean.

Voices suddenly roared from the stadium as a booming voice could be heard.

"To start off the prelims, we have Hunter Calasky making his way to the stage!"

At the rate in which the cue was moving, all she could see was a boy wearing a cape making his way out into the centre of the stadium.  
Her eyes glistened as she noticed the archer was wearing a long bow around his back, with the string of the bow being around his chest.

It was love at first sight.

* * *

**AN:**

**This is the start to the 3rd Arc! I wrote pages worth of notes for this Arc, so if It's definitely going to be a good one!  
****Thanks for reading! One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda **


	11. Painters And Arrows!

**Painters And Arrows**

* * *

With the archery match almost starting, the area was much clearer, leaving Tylias standing on his own. He stood below a tall white sign that stated "East Wing"

"Oh I get it!" he pointed to the sign, "If this goes to the East Wing then behind me should be the West Wing"

"YOU THERE!" a voice screamed from beside him.

He looked to his right to see an adult rushing towards him. He carried a paint brush in one hand and a portrait in the other.

His face was covered in smudges of different colour paint which was the first thing the pirate noticed.

"How would you like to buy one of my paintings?"

Tylias scanned him with his eyes as the nervous painter stood still.

"Alright, how much?" he said, sounding sceptical.

"That'll be 10,000 beli!" the painter chuckled nervously.

"10,000 beli!?" he scoffed, "what a rip-off!"

"PLEASE" the painter snapped, getting on his knees, "I REALLY NEED THIS!"

He had his hands clasped together and started to beg to the pirate. Tylias already felt bad for the painter as he just stared.

"Fine" he broke the silence, "I'll buy your painting"

The painter shot up from the ground in surprise, his eyes widened just like the smile on his face.

"You will?!"

The pirate nodded and grinned, "But only if you show me around first"

"Fine!" he cheered and started pointing in different directions. "This is the Lobby, behind you is the West Wing, right beside us is the East Wing and right to your left is the North Wing"

Tylias chuckled and shook his head, "That won't do. I want you to show me around, plus I want you to buy me something to eat"

"What do I look like to you?! A butler!?" cried the painter in disbelief.

"Hey, I'm willing to spend 10,000 beli on your painting" he turned his back, "but if you don't want it then –"

The painter reached out his hand and grabbed Tylias by the shoulder.

"Alright" he sighed, "I'm risking a lot here, but I'll do it"

"Great" smiled Tylias, "I could use a painting for my ship"

"WAIT A SECOND" the painter jumped, "You aren't be any chance a – a pirate?"

He simply nodded and reached out with his hand.

"Yup, nice to meet ya'"

The painter stood and glared at the hand. He was desperate for money, but what he didn't need was a customer who was a pirate. Regardless, the pirate agreed to pay triple for what paintings are usually worth and he couldn't let the opportunity slip away. He shook his hand and said "Nice to meet you too. I'm Caleb"

* * *

Julia sat in the stadium in among the crowd of hyperactive teenagers that were squealing in the highest tone. She was almost tempted to draw her katana out and scare them away, but she didn't want to draw any attention to herself that she was already getting. The odd couple of people couldn't help but notice the brown rags she was wearing. Still, her focus was always on the match that was happening below. She was quite high up in the stadium so she had a view of everything going on.  
Unfortunately she had missed the prelims match, but from what she could hear from the announcer, it sounded like he had passed.

Right now was a simple match between two people. Their bows were silvery steel with arrows that appeared so thin that it would take binoculars just to see them. A lot of the archers that she saw were quite different. Some used strange techniques while some used bows that were covered in decorations. However, their target remained the same; a circle at the other end of where they were standing. It only had a red bull's eye painted on it, and whoever's arrow gets the closest to the bull's eye gets more points.

"And it looks like this match is over!" cried the overly enthusiastic announcer. "Please don't go anywhere, as the next match between Hunter Calasky and the 'Arrowheads' will start in 5 minutes!"

She got up from her seat and pushed passed several people in the crowd; she was starving.  
The matches went on for longer than she thought. Usually there would be people selling food walking around the stadium but she couldn't see anybody.  
She got to ground level and searched around the entrance of the stadium: Nothing. No food or drinks, only restrooms and ticket booths.

"Perfect" she sighed and admitted her losses.

As she was walking back into the seating area, there were four people whispering to each other. Under any normal circumstances, she wouldn't care, but there was something odd about these people or at least three of them.  
Three of them wore red capes with a bold "A" letter on the back. The forth was a man in a business suit carrying a briefcase. She spent enough time with Trunks to know that this person was bad news. Not thinking of it, she carried on walking back to her seat.

She got back to her seat and watched the next match.  
Like every other opponent, Hunter Calasky walked out on stage. And like last time, his bow was neatly placed on his back with the string wrapped around him. The audience screamed as high as they could when the announcer called out his name. She didn't think it was possible, but when Hunter waved to the audience, they somehow got louder.

"Now let's hear it for the 'Arrowheads'!"

There wasn't much applause from the audience as there were for Hunter, however three archers arrived onto the stadium.  
Their hairs were blonde and curly and shined with the sun. They each carried their bows by their sides which had jewels carved in them.  
That's when she immediately noticed who they were. They were the same people from before; with their long capes.

"Long time no see" one of them whispered to Hunter.

The archer didn't pay any attention. He kept his sight on the bull's eye.

"With Hunter being the first on stage, he will be the one to shoot first!" the announcer stated.

The tension was building up in the crowd. Julia could hear whispers that he wasn't going to win. She scoffed at the idea that somebody as cool-looking as Hunter could lose to a bunch of blondes. The archer grabbed the string of his bow and pulled back. The arrow sat as still as his pose; not moving an inch. The 'Arrowhead' group simply stared and smiled at Hunter.

Within the blink of an eye, the archer somehow lost his footing. The audience couldn't see it but Julia could. Despite being in the highest point, her eyes didn't deceive her. Somehow, Hunter's leg twitched. He let go of the arrow and his hands dropped the bow as his arms had jolted.

The arrow flew yards away from the target and completely missed it.  
The audience was silent at first then started chatting. The announcer was trying to speak but was at a loss for words. "Well… It looks like he completely missed!"

The 'Arrowheads' started to giggle, "Well better luck next time, right?"

Hunter didn't react. He just picked up his bow and shrugged, "Well, can't always be a winner"

He walked off stage as the crowds continued to chatter, which eventually got louder.  
Some of the audience members were saying things such as "See, I told you. He's losing it" or "He never was a good archer"

Julia knew those were lies. Apparently they must be blind, because his performance in the prelims was perfect. How could he have suddenly lost to an error like that?

She stood up from her chair and marched away. She couldn't accept that kind of loss, even beginners don't make errors like that. Her goal was to now speak to Hunter Calasky and tell him about what she saw before the match started.

* * *

**AN:**

**I apologies for taking so long to update this story. I've been quite busy with multiple things recently, so I haven't had the time  
to write some new chapters. Unfortunately, the next chapter could take even longer. However, College is coming to end for me, so who knows,  
maybe things will be back on track! :)**

**Thanks for reading! One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda!**


End file.
